Murder of Inconvenience
by JediHanyou
Summary: This is a Case Closed / Yu Yu Hakusho CROSSOVER. Set when Jimmy, Rachel, Yusuke, and Keiko are all in Junior High - though not together - this is a prequel to both series. Finished writing 7/17/10, but finally posted 5/17/11... gomen nesai!
1. Street Fights

Disclaimer: I do not own either Detective Conan / Case Closed or Yu Yu Hakusho – if I did, I would be rich and famous

Disclaimer: I do not own either Detective Conan / Case Closed or Yu Yu Hakusho – if I did, I would be rich and famous! I am currently neither, but frankly, that suits me just fine. I hope this story will be found worthy of both fictional worlds.

"**Street Fights"**

**Knock, knock. **"Atsuko?"

No answer.

"Hmph! Probably drunk already. **ATSUKO!!**" Keiko pounded on the door.

The door squeaked open. "Yeah, yeah, what is it?" A bleary-eyed woman poked her head out, squinting in the morning light… which wasn't really all that bright. It was early spring, and the day was comfortably cool but somewhat overcast.

The smell of alcohol on Atsuko Urameshi's breath made Keiko nauseous, but she bit back the gag reflex. _I'm not about to puke my guts all over my best friend's mother… not like she hasn't probably been doing enough of that herself lately…_

"Atsuko, is Yusuke here? I told him yesterday that I'd come by and get him to school on time myself if I had to."

"Yusuke? No, he's not here… he already left."

Keiko checked her watch. It was still running, and she had just set it this morning. _Could he have really gone to school on his own?_ "Are you _sure_ he went to school?" she asked, peering over Atsuko's shoulder into the house. _It's totally trashed!_

"Yep. He was reciting something for science class as he went. Kept talking about 'the big jerk' and 'finishing it'… Keiko?"

The girl was already off and running.

"_Yawn_… whatever." Atsuko closed the door and slumped against the inside frame, an unconscious heap.

xxxxx

Keiko's blue skirt swished along, keeping time with the pounding of her feet and her heart. "Yusuke," she vowed between gritted teeth, "if you got yourself into _another_ fight, I swear I will punch your lights out myself!"

_Last time, it was a high school guy who made a pass at me on the way home… the time before that, Daisuke Kumon called Yusuke's mother a whore… well, I guess I can't blame him for that one, it could be true for all I know. But _three_ fights in one week is a record even for Yusuke!_

She searched the usual spots, confident that her running ability – and the fact that she always left for school an hour before she really needed to – would allow her to find Yusuke and still get them both to school on time. _I haven't been late yet… and he's never on time…_

The underpass… nothing.

The vacant lot… plenty of broken bottles and teeth (more so of the latter)… but nobody.

Keiko checked her watch for the tenth time that morning. _Five minutes! Sorry, Yusuke… it's on your own head!_

She turned the corner, side-stepping a gaggle of girls from their cross-town rival school, Mitsukake Junior High. She dashed down the street to her own, Sarayashi Junior High.

xxxxx

Yusuke Urameshi sized up his opponent as they circled around each other in the narrow, refuse-strewn alley. _Okay, so he's got me on size…_ He grinned. _Which only means he's a bigger target. The longer arms might be a problem… I'll have to beat him with speed._

"You ready to quit dancing, you big jerk?"

"Anytime you are, Urameshi!" his adversary bellowed.

The two ninth-graders went at it hammer and tongs. Neither one had anything remotely resembling a distinct fighting style… they just _brawled_. Punches, kicks, elbow jabs, headbutts… in short, no holds barred. And they were both quite good at it – so good, in fact, that twenty minutes passed by, and still they stood: bruised almost everywhere, bleeding everywhere else. Both blue uniforms were practically shredded.

"Heh… not bad, Urameshi."

"Not bad yourself, ya big jerk."

"Hnh." The battered red-haired boy grinned, staggered, and fell flat on his face.

"Finally…" Yusuke toppled as well. For a moment, he rested sprawled on his back, and then forced himself into a cross-legged sitting position. Something nagged at the back of his brain. "Oh, crap! Keiko!"

He stood up too fast, and reeled while his pounding heart tried to compensate for the sudden shift. He held himself up with one hand against the cold, slimy brick wall of the alley and began making his way to its exit.

As he walked, he mulled over the events that had led up to the scrap. Keiko had surmised correctly: his mother had indeed gone on another drinking binge the past few weeks, leaving her son to fend for himself, as usual. Life with Atsuko was an endless cycle of binges and promises to never go on a bender again… promises she always broke. He never knew whether his mother would be AWOL, drunk and partying with complete strangers, drunk and passed out, or weeping and begging him to forgive her. He wasn't sure which of the four options he hated the most. As a result, Yusuke hated going home just slightly more than he hated going to school; the teachers, convinced of his status as a permanent delinquent, never really gave him a chance to make good – but at least at school, he could see Keiko.

While he was coming back from school yesterday, his mood was already sour, dreading whatever scene awaited him at home. Normally getting knocked flat onto the pavement by someone in a hurry wouldn't bother him much… as the one teacher he'd had that he actually _liked_ used to say, "manure happens". But he was not having a good day; so he had chased the culprit down and returned the favor.

xxxxx

"_Kuwabara?" It was indeed his arch-rival from school. His distinctive hair gave him away even before he pried his equally distinctive face off the pavement._

"_Get offa me, Urameshi!" Kurama Kuwabara had just as little difficulty in recognizing Yusuke's voice; their ongoing feud was legendary at Sarayashi Junior High. The burly young man threw Yusuke off his back as he pried himself off of the pavement. "What was that for anyhow?"_

"_For bowling me over, you big galoot!"_

"_So that was you back there? I didn't even notice who it was. I was just in a hurry, and _you_ were in the way!" Kuwabara jabbed an accusing finger._

"_In the way, my ass! You're not getting out of this one!" Yusuke took a fighting stance, ready to have at it._

"_Look, can I get back to you on this? I'm kinda in a hurry…" Kuwabara looked almost frantic. Yusuke had never seen him so worried, so he reluctantly agreed to put the fight off until tomorrow. _

xxxxx

Yusuke reached the end of the alley. _Out of wall…_ He stepped out onto the street, and

"OOMPH!" sprawled onto the pavement, the steamrolled victim of a rushed pedestrian for the second time in as many days.

"Yusuke! Oh my God, are you all right?"

"Hm Kum-umph…" (translation: _"Hi Keiko"_)

"I'm so sorry, Yusuke!" She rolled him over onto his back, and looked into the blood-smeared face of her best friend since first grade. "Did I do that to you?"

"No… my face just naturally looks like this." He grinned up at her, and she knew that his tough nature would ensure his survival – despite the fact that his face very nearly resembled an extremely rare teriyaki burger.

_So I didn't hurt him that much… but something sure did. _"Yusuke, what have you been up to?"

"Nothing."

"So I take it that 'nothing' was more important than meeting me this morning?"

"Er… yeah…"

"But you _didn't_!"

_Oops… I walked right into that one. _

"I'm sorry, Keiko. I honestly forgot all about it. What were we meeting about, anyhow?"

"To make sure you got… to… school…" Keiko glanced at her watch. "Two minutes! Move it, Yusuke!"

She dashed off, dragging the battered boy along behind her.

xxxxx

Across town, a similar scene was unfolding: similar in that it involved a daft junior-high boy and an exasperated girl, yet different in the fact that _this_ girl was actively trying to kill the boy rather than nearly doing so accidentally.

"Jimmy! Stand… still… and… take it… like… a… man!"

**WHOCK**

The concrete wall crumbled, and several chunks smacked the boy's head on their journey 'south', courtesy of the earth's gravity.

Jimmy Kudo stared up at the enflamed face of his attacker. "Now, Rachel, I really didn't mean it like that!"

"Then how _did_ you mean it? It'll be all over school by the end of the day: Jimmy Kudo, pervert detective."

"I was just trying to show how being observant in all aspects – using all five senses – can help to solve a case!"

Rachel Moore withdrew her dust-covered fist from the impression it had left in the wall and seized Jimmy's collar. She stared him in the eyes. "That doesn't mean you had to go and _kiss_ some random girl to find out what lip gloss she was wearing," she growled.

Jimmy began to sweat. Rachel had been his best friend since before he could dribble a soccer ball, but she was also the star of the school's karate team. And she had a _tiny_ bit of a jealous streak, which he was beginning to find both endearing and annoying. He was slowly coming to the realization that he was in love with her, but he was well aware that romance would undoubtedly complicate, if not compromise, his chosen future career as a private detective. Unfortunately, once he got started talking about mysteries and detective work, it was like his mind completely disassociated from thoughts of anything else; hence his present predicament.

"Yes, I suppose I could have chosen a better example of how to effectively use the sense of taste… but it was… err… convenient?" Jimmy instantly regretted that particular word choice as the flames he envisioned surrounding Rachel's slim frame doubled in intensity.

"And I don't suppose you could have used _me_ instead?" Rachel purposefully kept her tone neutral, her eyes calm, though inside she was seething. _Last chance, buster!_

"No."

_That's it!_ "And why not?"

"Because I already know what type you wear," he answered matter-of-factly, "so that wouldn't prove anything."

"And just how would you know that?" _You've never kissed me!_

"Because I've seen you buy it, and put it on; because you always wear the same kind; and because it's one of the first things I smell every morning – after breakfast and your shampoo. It's Shunogi's Strawberry Lip Gloss, Number Five, with Moisture Protection and SPF 15."

"Yes, you're right, but…" _you're totally missing the point, you jerk! _"Sigh… never mind, Jimmy. You're so dense." She let him slide to the pavement, turned on her heel, and strode off.

"Wait! Hey, Rachel, what's going on here?" His lean, athletic body – trained to perfection on the soccer field – quickly caught up to hers. He leaned in conspiratorially. "Don't tell me that you're actually…"

"Kudo! Jimmy Kudo!"

"Inspector McGuire! Good morning!"

The pudgy, balding, mustachioed police officer thundered down the street towards them. "Your classmates told me that you hadn't yet arrived at school, so I called your house. Since there was no answer, I decided to check your route to school."

"I see. So, now that you've found me, what do you want with me?"

"We need your help, Jimmy! A dead body was discovered on the West Side this morning; you know how effective their investigations unit is, so headquarters requested you take over the case." Indeed, the West Side precinct was notorious both for its high crime rate and its low rate of criminal capture. The officers in most other precincts felt that the West Side police force was 'on the take', but Jimmy was fairly certain that they were simply more inept than the average cops.

Rachel grasped Jimmy's arm, well aware that his brain was already spinning in this exciting new direction. "Oh, no, not another case, Jimmy! If you miss another day of school, you'll be suspended!"

"It's already been cleared with the administration, Miss Moore." McGuire handed Jimmy a manila envelope containing the preliminary report.

Rachel chewed her lip furiously, ruminating. "If he's going, I'm going too!' she declared.

"That alright with you, Jimmy? I know she's helped you out before."

Jimmy's eyes glazed over as he read through the report for the fifth time. _Dead to the world, as usual._ "I think he's ok with it," she asserted.

The inspector nodded. "I'll have to have the school call your father, then." He reached for his radio.

Rachel's eyes went wide. "No, no need for that! He's… out… today. It'll be alright if I just cut school for the day." It was the truth – mostly. Her father had been in a slow decline ever since the divorce two years ago; from the number of beer cans she'd picked up (and bagged for recycling) throughout the apartment this morning, he probably would be 'out' all day.

"Well, ok, but I'm not taking any fallout for it." The inspector summoned a squad car with his walkie.

"Yes, sir." _The only 'fallout' I can foresee is my drunk dad falling out of bed… he doesn't care about _anything _anymore._

The car pulled up, and they all piled in. "Take the express, Nekonemo," the inspector ordered the driver.

"Yes, sir!"

A/N: For those of you who could not determine this from the clues, this story takes place _before_ Yusuke's untimely death at the hands of a reckless driver. Thus, he has no spiritual powers (sorry, no _reiki_ gun in this story, folks…) but he's still one hell of a street fighter. This story also takes place before Jimmy Kudo (yes, I'm using the Americanized names, because I can, daggone it!) becomes Conan Edogawa… so it's sort of a prequel to both series.

As such, I have taken a little artistic license, as we have few clues regarding the personalities and mannerisms of the four main characters prior to those momentous events. For instance, I decided to make all four main characters ninth-graders, though I know full well that when Case Closed / Detective Conan began, Jimmy and Rachel were in high school. Since I don't know exactly when either storyline takes place relative to the other, I took the easy way out and made them all the same age. Please continue to read and enjoy!


	2. The Scene of the Crime

Disclaimer: I do not own either Detective Conan / Case Closed or Yu Yu Hakusho – if I did, I would be rich and famous

Disclaimer: I do not own either Detective Conan / Case Closed or Yu Yu Hakusho – if I did, I would be rich and famous! I am currently neither, but frankly, that suits me just fine. I hope this story will be found worthy of both fictional worlds.

"**The Scene of the Crime"**

"Oh, honestly, Yusuke… it was just an accident! You didn't have to go and beat Kuwabara up over a little thing like that!"

"I did _not_ – ow! – beat him up! It was a man-to-man duel of honor, Keiko!"

"Yeah, whatever. Now hold still while I disinfect these cuts!"

Yusuke reluctantly let her have her way with him. He glared sulkily about the school nurse's office, cringing slightly every time she applied an ethyl-alcohol-soaked cotton swab to a new laceration. Finally, he could stand no more.

"Ok, that's enough. You need to get to class, right?"

"Well, yes, but I'm not quite done with you yet! You still look terrible…"

"Ah…" Yusuke limped over to the floor-length mirror. _She's right… no wonder the nurse fainted when we walked in the door!_ His face, though it no longer had the appearance of raw beef, was still badly swollen. His cuts were nearly all bandaged, but his uniform was a completely lost cause: not even a master tailor would be able to mend it, and his mother was completely inept. _Damn… more money down the piss-pipe. Third uniform this year, too._

"Yusuke?"

"I'm fine. You should get to class."

"Only if you're coming with me."

_Damn stubborn girl…_ "I'll be along in a minute."

"No, Yusuke. I know you too well for that. You're coming with me _now_." She seized him by the wrists and dragged him toward the door.

_She won't be able to open the door and still keep hold of me!_ Yusuke thought triumphantly. But his victory was short-lived: as they neared the door, someone opened it from outside.

"Ah, Yurameshi. Good. Please, come this way?"

xxxxx

"Officer Keinan, please believe me… Yusuke would never…!"

The corpulent officer sat calmly behind the mahogany desk, petulantly cleaning his fingernails. "Sorry, miss. He's the only male student who was late to your school this morning, and that makes him our prime suspect."

"In a _murder_?" Keiko slammed her fists onto the desk. "Yusuke's not that kind of person."

"To the contrary, his record says he's quite the delinquent." The police deputy tapped the file meaningfully.

"Sure, he's gotten into street scraps all his life, but he'd never kill another human being!" _I'm wasting my breath… this guy doesn't believe a word I'm saying!_ Keiko had demanded that she be allowed to accompany Yusuke to the station, claiming that she was his sister. They knew now that she wasn't, but were far too busy to take her back to school.

The office door flew open and another officer burst in. "Yo, Keinan, we just got a call from Central. It seems some McGuire fellow wants the killer brought to the crime scene."

"Damn! McGuire's always poking his nose in to our business! Why bother? We know the punk's guilty."

"He is not! Just give him a chance, and he'll prove he's innocent!"

"Shut up, girlie! One more word out of you, and we'll just dump you off on the street, ya hear?" the bulbous man roared. "Keisuke, cuff the kid and take him over. Bring this brat, too, get her out of my hair!"

"Yes, sir!"

xxxxx

Jimmy Kudo calmly surveyed the scene of the crime. "It looks like a murder committed in the midst of a robbery, but the report said the cash register was untouched?"

"That's correct."

"And the surveillance cameras actually caught the shooting on tape?"

"Yes. We're having the tapes time-synchronized now; they should be here within the hour."

"Good." He'd never been in this particular establishment before, but the layout was very familiar: it looked just like the convenience store on the corner near his house. He gave the officer waiting outside the high sign.

"Wow… this place is a mess!" Rachel said, stepping through the wreckage of the busted glass door. Looking around, she saw that every aisle was completely trashed.

"Stay there, Rachel, I still need to look around some more."

"Ok."

_Hmm… broken glass, spilled flour and rice… ah!_ "Inspector, are these the footprints of you or your men?" He pointed to a faint set of prints in the middle of an aisle.

"Eh? Certainly not! The only person to enter this room before you and I did was Mr. Taka over there, and he came in the back." He pointed to a young man in the garb of a sales clerk. "He's the one who made the call to the police."

Jimmy stepped carefully over to the man; he looked tired, and scared. "Mr. Taka, what is your relationship to the victim?"

"Mr. Yamaguchi was my employer… he let me work odd shifts in between my college classes. I could watch the store and study at the same time. He was always very nice to me… I… I don't know what I'll do without this job!" He broke down into tears. "If I'd been here sooner, it would've been me gunned down instead of him. You have to find the killer, please!"

_Either this guy's a master actor, or he's completely sincere. He had a good deal going here; if money was the motive, _he_ would have cracked the register, even if the original crook didn't._ "So, what happened this morning?"

"I came in to work for a few hours before going to my 11 o'clock Particle Physics class. I came in through the employees' entrance in the back; it was locked, as always, so I used this key." He removed it from his key-ring and handed it to Jimmy. "After I hung up my hat and jacket and put on my apron in the break room in the back, I came to the front of the shop… and I found him, just like this. I immediately called the police."

"We have his 9-1-1 recording, if you'd like to hear it, Jimmy."

"Maybe later. What time was the call?"

McGuire flipped through the packet of papers. "7:56 AM."

"Two hours ago, hmm? Mr. Taka, did Mr. Yamaguchi have any enemies that you know of?"

"Oh, no, he was the kindest man… never got angry at anyone, except shoplifters. But even then, he'd let it slide sometimes – this isn't the best neighborhood, and a lot of kids go hungry frequently. When he catches a kid swiping chips or candy, he gives them cans of soup, fruit, or vegetables to take home instead. Very few kids try to steal a second time – they just ask him, and he sends them home with enough for at least a meager meal. He really does try to help!"

"Any relatives?"

"Well, I understand that he inherited the shop from his father. He was married once, I think, but his wife either died, or left. He never mentions her, anyway. No children of his own that I know of, but his niece and nephew stop by every now and then, separately."

"How well do they get along?"

"Well, the one time they both showed up at the same time, sparks flew… those two did _not_ like each other. But each of them got along fine with Mr. Yamaguchi!"

"I see. Mr. Taka, please leave your number with the officer outside, in case we need to ask you some more questions. I believe you have a class to attend."

"Oh, thank you, thank you!" He bowed, and eagerly dashed outside, still wearing his store apron.

"You're letting him go, Jimmy?"

"He's not the killer, Rachel."

"How do you know?"

"Well, I've checked the employee time log; his story about flexible hours was true. And, he's got a small notebook tucked under his apron; he was intending to study today. If he had been the killer, he would have known that he wouldn't need his notes, and he wouldn't have brought it."

"I guess."

Jimmy stepped around the counter and crouched down next to Mr. Yamaguchi's lifeless body. _Hmm… about three hours ago, judging from temperature and lividity. So, somewhere around seven o'clock._ He stood up and examined the bullet lodged in the wall. _Nine millimeter, through-and-through… just a bit more useful than one that lodges in the body._

An officer clattered in with an array of video equipment on a cart. "Here's the security footage, Inspector."

"Thanks. Care to take a look, Jimmy?"

"Absolutely."

xxxxx

The time-synchronized recordings began. The first screen showed the intact glass front door, which now lay in ruins. The second displayed a panoramic shot of the store, but the bottom half of the screen only showed the alcohol aisle. The last screen showed Mr. Yamaguchi behind the counter, flipping through a magazine. All three were fairly clear – as clear as grainy black-and-white security footage can be.

"As you can see, there's not much to go on," McGuire began.

"Shh! I can watch for myself!" Jimmy chastised.

"Right. Sorry."

The inspector, Jimmy, and Rachel watched in silence as the events of that morning played out on the screens. As it was the early morning, only a few customers came and went – old men buying cigarettes, a few schoolboys buying comics to sneak into school and read behind their textbooks. Jimmy snickered quietly. _I used to do that… never did get caught._ One teenager tried to sneak out with a girlie mag – Mr. Yamaguchi caught him and none-too-gently escorted him from the premises. _Pretty spry for his age…_ "Mr. Yamaguchi is around fifty years old, correct?"

"Fifty-five, actually."

"Hm."

As the timer at the bottom of the screen read "7:04", the store was devoid of customers. The screen displaying the door darkened, and the door swung open, revealing a customer wearing a white baseball cap and light blue boys' school uniform. The middle screen showed him crossing the room, stopping in the middle of an aisle. The figure began speaking. _Damn! Normally the lack of sound isn't an issue, since I can read their lips, but the image is too distant!_ He couldn't make out words, but the expressions were clear enough. They were having an argument.

_This is not the first argument they've had… his face flushed immediately upon seeing the visitor. So, this is no disgruntled customer... and not a robber. Who else would want to kill a storekeeper?_

The customer approached the counter and drew a small handgun. _Browning, maybe… or Luger. _Mr. Yamaguchi began backing away, holding up his hands. _It's more of a defensive stance than a posture of surrender… I thought I recognized that Ju-Jitsu move he used on the teenager! _Mr. Yamaguchi seemed to be trying to persuade the visitor to leave, but the gunman shook his head, aimed, and fired, point-blank.

"Oh!"

"Rachel, shh!"

"Sorry…"

_I've never actually seen a murder being committed before…_ Rachel took a minute to compose herself before looking back to the screens. The murderer was trashing the place; he smashed the door from the outside as he left, almost as an afterthought.

"That's all, huh?"

"Yep."

"Well, it's clear that the murder was not planned; that gun was meant to intimidate, not kill. It's also clear that Mr. Yamaguchi knew his killer – but I doubt he could tell us who it was now. Hmm… I think the killer wanted it to look like an attempted robbery gone sour. But didn't he know about the cameras?" Jimmy glanced behind at the ancient piece of surveillance equipment that looked out over the shop. _Either old, or second-hand._ He pulled over a stepstool, hopped up, and examined the brackets. _The screws are rusted: it's been here for ages. _A cursory inspection proved the other two cameras were the same age and type. _If the gunman had been in this store even once, he'd know about these cameras. It all depends on whether this murder was planned…_

While Jimmy continued his visual dissection of the shop – and his mental dissection of the mystery as a whole – Rachel looked on with a mixture of admiration and another emotion she couldn't quite define. _I simply love watching Jimmy get so engrossed in a tough mystery… he's so good at it, but the best part is that he really comes alive! At the same time, I can't help wishing he'd pay this much attention to _me_…_ "Sigh."

"Something the matter, Miss Moore?"

"Hm? No, Inspector, I'm feeling much better now. I just enjoy watching Jimmy work."

"Mm."

Nekonemo appeared at the door. "Inspector! The local police have brought the suspect they located earlier!" He handed McGuire a manila file.

"Yusuke Yurameshi, eh? Bring him in!" the inspector roared. "I want a good look at the punk who killed this poor man!"

A/N: Will proof be found of poor Yusuke's innocence? Will they catch the real killer? Will Jimmy get to tell Rachel his true feelings? Will Yusuke tell Keiko? Will I ever stop speaking in only questions just like the guy who does the next-episode previews for Yu Yu Hakusho? (I think they do it for DBZ, too… must be a fighting-anime thing…) Will you please, please, _please_ read and review? I'll get the next chapter out soon, I swear!


	3. Hips Don't Lie

Disclaimer: I do not own either Detective Conan / Case Closed or Yu Yu Hakusho – if I did, I would be rich and famous! I am currently neither, but frankly, that suits me just fine. I hope this story will be found worthy of both fictional worlds.

"**Hips Don't Lie"**

A pair of patrolmen wrestled a disheveled young man in through the door. His blue uniform was a perfect match to the one worn by the killer, except that it was torn open in several places. Recently bandaged injuries showed through the gaps. "Hey, watch it! I can walk on my own, ya know!"

"Officers, how many times do I have to tell you he's been hurt? Please try to be gentler with him…" A girl in a blue skirt followed the trio through the door.

"Careful of the floor!" the Inspector cautioned them, pointing to the prints. "We haven't taped up that area yet!" _Hmm… I've seen those two somewhere before…_

"Yeah, yeah." The officer on the boy's left wrenched his captive's arm behind his back. "Kid, you're not helping here! The more you struggle, the tighter we have to hold you!"

"Yeowch! Get offa me, ya creeps!"

"Quit yer squirming, punk!" The other officer viciously sucker-punched the boy.

"Hey, that's taking things a bit too far!" Rachel protested.

"I agree!" McGuire bellowed. "Let him loose, now!"

"Sorry, sir… this killer's been trying to escape ever since we left the station!"

"Small wonder, given that it's you two they picked to escort him! Didn't both of you get suspended for unnecessary brutality by the tribunal just last month?" The pair's silence confirmed his suspicion. "Get out of here, both of you. My men will make sure he doesn't escape."

The pair released the boy, who promptly collapsed in a fit of coughing. "And tell your superior Mr. Keinan that I don't want him poking his nose into this crime scene any further!" he yelled at their fleeing backs. _I don't know what in the world they're doing back on duty so fast… I smell something rotten…_ "Hey, you ok, boy? Er…" he flipped through the sheaf of papers the officers had dumped on the counter, "Yusuke Urameshi?"

"Yeah… I'm fine. Thanks for getting those guys off my back." He winced as he tried to push himself off the floor.

The girl was at his side in an instant. "Oh, Yusuke! Where does it hurt?"

"What do you think, Keiko? It hurts all over…"

Rachel scurried over. "Here, let me help. Keiko, is it?"

"Mm-hm. Keiko Yukimura."

"I'm Rachel Moore, pleased to meet you. Ok, up you come, Yusuke!"

The two girls helped Yusuke to his feet. Rachel looked him over, aghast. "Those men did all _that_ to you?"

"No. He was in a fight in a back alley this morning before school," Jimmy stated calmly.

Keiko spun and gaped at Jimmy in astonishment. "Who are you, and how did you know that?"

"The name is Jimmy Kudo, Detective, and it was easy. His skinned knuckles tell me he was fighting back, not just taking blows. The bruises on his face and arms tell me when it happened. And the mold slime on his uniform says it was somewhere damp and deserted. That doesn't necessarily exclude him from being a suspect, though." Jimmy gently led the other boy behind the shop counter and pointed to the body, which was still uncovered in a pool of blood. "Yusuke, have you ever seen that man before?"

Yusuke's face turned ghostly white. "Mr. Yamaguchi… no way!" He spun around, seemingly seeing the devastated store for the first time. "I didn't recognize the place at all, since it was so trashed. Yeah, I've been here dozens of times!" _Last time, he caught me sneaking out with some comics, and gave me a whipping for it… I still have the bruises to prove it, but I don't think Keiko would want to see them, given their particular location…_ His train of thought halted as he caught the calculating look in Jimmy's eyes. "Hey, look, sure I'm a regular customer, but I'm telling you, I didn't kill him! He was one of the few decent guys in the neighborhood!"

"Inspector," Rachel broke in, "perhaps if we show them the recordings, they might spot something we missed. Or at least they'd understand why the police picked him up."

"Agreed." McGuire's fingers clamped down on Yusuke's shoulders firmly, but not unkindly. "Jimmy here will figure things out. You'll spend the rest of your life in prison if he proves you're guilty, but until then, you're innocent to me."

"… Thanks." _I lucked out! Most cops would've tossed me in a cell to rot by now._

Jimmy wandered about the store, pondering, while the newcomers watched the surveillance tapes. _What am I missing?_

"The shooter sure does look like you, Yusuke… right-handed, same uniform, same height," Keiko commented when the footage ended. "But I've never seen that cap on you before."

"I don't. Wear. Hats. Don't like 'em. You know that."

"It's not him."

"WHAT?" McGuire's head whipped around, his face displaying his shock at Jimmy's almost lackadaisical announcement.

Jimmy was carefully studying the floor in the center aisle. "The murderer is shorter than Yusuke."

"How can you tell?"

"Well, there's two factors. First, there's the fact that Yusuke typically slouches. Stand up straight, please."

Yusuke straightened his back. It added a full three centimeters to his height.

McGuire tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Well, maybe… the video doesn't show the best detail, though. It probably wouldn't stand in court."

"_Definitely_ wouldn't," Jimmy corrected him. "At least, not by itself. However, there is another aspect the tape left out, due to the position of the camera. Look at the murderer's footprints."

The Inspector and the girls carefully clustered around the not-yet-taped-off region.

"I don't see anything special about 'em," McGuire groused.

"The distance between them is a bit long for someone of Yusuke's height, wouldn't you think?"

"Well, maybe…"

"Quite right. Unfortunately, there's just too much variation in the human population. It could simply have been someone with extremely long legs relative to their overall height. But that's not the most interesting thing about them."

"Then what is it, already?" Rachel pried impatiently. _I hate it when he gets like this…_

"These footprints here are pointed inward."

"So? Lots of people's toes point inward!" Keiko rebutted.

"True. But how many people's toes point inward when they walk… and _outward_ when they stand?" He indicated a fainter pair of prints where the murderer had stood when he was talking with Mr. Yamaguchi.

"Hmm… you're right! That _is_ rather strange, come to think of it. But what does it mean?"

"It means, Inspector, that Yusuke is _not_ the culprit, because he doesn't _walk_ like the culprit."

"I beg your pardon?"

"The only way someone's toes could point outward when they stand, but inward when they walk, is if their hips are swiveling a great deal more than a typical man's. If you look closely at the videos again, I think you'll see the murderer's shoulders swiveling along with their hips."

Yusuke looked up from the screen, one eye swollen shut. "He's right, Inspector. It's faint, but his shoulders are swiveling."

"Exactly. Now, Yusuke, if you would please do me a favor?" Jimmy asked politely.

"What is it?"

"I want you to walk for me."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Just walk down this aisle, normally. Back and forth a few times. You too, Keiko, please? Make sure you stop before you reach the footprints."

"Okay… how's this?"

The pair began pacing back and forth like models on a catwalk – minus the ludicrous outfits and strobing flashbulb lights, and plus about twenty pounds apiece.

"That's just fine," Jimmy approved. "Do you see it, Inspector?"

He scrutinized the duo for a few turns. "Err… just what should I be looking for?"

Jimmy smirked. "You don't see it because what you're looking for isn't there. Pardon me one moment, I need another volunteer." He strode out the door, returning a few moments later with a middle-aged woman wearing a navy business suit, tortoise-shell glasses, a pearl necklace and high heels.

"Oh my, what happened here?" she asked innocuously, gazing about the store. "This place sure is a mess!"

The Inspector was flustered by the sudden appearance of the mature beauty. "Well, ma'am, I'm afraid there's been a m – "

"Just your typical break-in, ma'am," Jimmy interrupted. "Now, if you wouldn't mind walking up and down this aisle, same as these two youngsters?" Jimmy asked her.

"Certainly. Anything to help the police!" She flashed Inspector McGuire a winsome smile.

"How did you find someone to help so quickly?" Rachel whispered to Jimmy.

"Well, any crime scene draws a crowd," he whispered back. "I just picked the person who would best suit our needs and looked the least hurried." _She's probably with the media, but that's okay. She can't see the body from anywhere in the main part of the store._ He raised his voice. "Well, Inspector, do you see it now?"

"I'm afraid I'm still lost, Jimmy."

Jimmy sidled up to the Inspector and dropped his voice again. "You're looking in the wrong place… you need to watch her _hips_."

The Inspector flushed briefly, but complied. Jimmy sighed. _He never has been able to handle the ladies very well…_

As the woman, Yusuke, and Keiko paced past each other up and down the aisle, stopping just short of the footprints left by killer, inspiration finally clicked – just like the woman's footwear. "It's her heels! They make her hips sway!" McGuire declared.

"Precisely," Jimmy confirmed. "Thank you, ma'am, that will be all." He smoothly led her to and out the door.

Once he was sure she was well and gone, he turned to the others. "Our murderer simply cannot be Yusuke Urameshi… because our murderer is a _woman_."

A/N: Did you see it coming? He he… I've actually had this chapter more or less complete for some time, but forgot to publish it! (It's a good thing, too, because I've had to edit it somewhat…) For some time since then, I've been fully absorbed in work, family, and my Inuyasha AU fic, "A Twist in Time" – check it out if you get the chance!

I'll _try_ to update this again ASAP.


	4. Two Sides to Every Tale

Disclaimer: I do not own either Detective Conan / Case Closed or Yu Yu Hakusho – if I did, I would be rich and famous! I am currently neither, but frankly, that suits me just fine. I hope this story will be found worthy of both fictional worlds.

"**Two Sides to Every Tale"**

Jimmy paused for a moment to let his pronouncement sink in.

"Jimmy!" the Inspector sputtered. "How can you be so sure of that? These prints don't look like they were made by heels!"

"Oh, I know they weren't. There are some styles of shoes that have flat soles for comfort, but keep the height and body-shaping effects of heels. It's the only explanation that fits the facts"

"Body-shaping?" Keiko whispered to Rachel.

"Beats me," she whispered back.

Yusuke grinned, having overheard them. "You mean you girls didn't know? There's more to heels than just looking taller. When a woman wears them, it slants her feet, and that makes certain parts of her body stick out more than they usually would."

The girls promptly turned beet red as they pictured themselves in heels and rapidly identified the parts Yusuke was referring to.

"Seriously? That's why men like it when women wear them?"

"Men are such animals! I'm never wearing heels again!"

Jimmy rolled his eyes. _Girls… it's not like there's a law requiring them to wear heels, but they do it anyway._ "Anyhow, Inspector, if you would be so kind as to locate Mr. Yamaguchi's niece and nephew and bring them here for questioning? Separately, if you can."

"Sure thing, Jimmy."

XXXXX

**Asamashii Okane, age 28**

"Ya mean he's dead? Well, no surprise there. All these punks and delinquents always hangin' around his store, and him feeding them like so many stray cats." The young woman coolly filed her nails and fixed Yusuke, who was sitting on the floor holding an ice pack to his face, with a withering stare. "That the one who did Uncle in?"

"No, ma'am. AH-choo! He's a… witness," the Inspector fibbed.

"Hnh. Looks like trouble, if you ask me."

"Easy, easy, Keiko!" Rachel restrained the furious girl, not without some difficulty.

"But she…"

"Just wait. Jimmy does his best work this way. People will say things without thinking when they think they're in control of the situation."

_Hmph. Smelly snob!_

"Mrs. Okane, if you wouldn't mind describing what you were doing about seven o'clock this morning?"

As usual, Jimmy was letting Inspector McGuire ask the basic questions while he observed the suspect's responses – which, in practice, tended to be much more useful than the answers to those questions.

The gaudily-dressed young woman blew on her nails and closely inspected them. "What? You think _I_ did it? Like I would need the money from his insurance, or his measly inheritance. I liked Uncle Yamaguchi – he was a fool, but he was a good man."

"Then where were you?" the Inspector pressed.

"Look, if I tell you, do you promise to not tell my husband?"

"That shouldn't be a problem, as long as it's nothing illegal," the Inspector vowed.

"It's not. See, I'd been monitoring the amount in our joint accounts for the past few weeks, and he kept making withdrawals – small ones, but more than he'd need for incidental expenditures. Then one morning, on my way to an appointment with my hairdresser, I saw him in a coffee shop with some strange young woman. I… thought he was cheating on me with that tramp!

"So this morning, I followed him to the coffee shop. She was there again. I eavesdropped on them, and I overheard that she was his cousin, and he was helping her out with a bit of money to pay her bills. Please don't tell him I suspected him!"

"Do you have anything that proves you were where you say you were?" Jimmy asked her.

"Well, I went in disguise, so my husband wouldn't recognize me… so no one at the shop will remember me. And I had a receipt from the latte I bought, but I burned it as soon as I got home."

_So she's got nothing but a story… a believable one, but still just a story._ "Inspector, you can let her go for now."

"All right, Mrs. Okane, you can go. But go straight back home, and don't leave once you get there. Consider yourself under unofficial house arrest."

"I understand. Thank you, Inspector. Please, find Uncle's killer!" She bowed and stepped through the metal frame of the shattered door.

"I'll have a patrol car follow her home," McGuire told Jimmy.

The teen detective waved a hand lazily. "No need, Inspector. She's not the type of woman to readily abandon her life of luxury just to escape from a criminal charge."

"Oh?"

"She married into money; she doesn't want to lose it." He shrugged and waved his hand to clear the air. "She's clearly more concerned about the money tied up in her marriage – and impending divorce – than about any romance that may still be there."

"Impending divorce?"

"That was no cousin he was talking to in the coffee shop. I'm sure her husband knew she was there – that expensive French perfume of hers is unmistakable – and changed the conversation immediately. I'm sure he's planning to leave her… poor, foolish girl. Anyhow, if you could send in the nephew?"

"Uh… yeah."

Rachel shook her head. _He can be so callous sometimes…_

XXXXX

**Takashi Gakushi, age 26:**

"Seriously? Uncle Yama kicked it? You know, I always told him this neighborhood was a little rough for a guy getting' on in years like him, but he just wouldn't give up on his dream of making the world a better place by helping out the kids." The young man, who looked like he hadn't seen a barber in years, shook his head; his hair splayed out beneath his black beret. "Man, what a major bummer!"

"Actually, Mr. Gakushi, it appears that your uncle was murdered in cold blood," McGuire corrected him.

"Uncle Yama, murdered? No way, man. Like, _everybody_ loved him! "

"So we've heard. Nevertheless, all the evidence points to a planned homicide, not a robbery gone sour. So, if you wouldn't mind telling us where you were around seven this morning?"

"What? You guys think… hey, man, it definitely wasn't me. He was like a father to me, ever since my dad died when I was young! Let's see, seven, umm… uh, I was asleep, man! See, I work nights playing bongos at 'Club Kodou-Kizami', so I was in bed long before dawn, and I stayed there til your men woke me up bangin' on my door."

"Is there anyone who can verify that?" the Inspector inquired gruffly.

"Yeah, I've seen this guy there!" broke in Yusuke.

"_You_ went to that… weird… place?" asked Keiko incredulously. _I didn't think Yusuke was that type…_

"Well, not exactly… Kuwabara and me kinda crashed in through the back door while fighting one day. I was kinda busy at the time, but I know I saw this guy up on the stage." _I'd never miss that hair…_

"So that was you? You guys busted up my buddy's sitar!"

"Ulp… um, sorry?"

"A-HEM!" The Inspector cleared his throat. "Not to interrupt, but what I meant was, can anyone verify that you were at home, sleeping, at seven o'clock this morning?"

"Hey, yeah, my girlfriend Kionna – she was there when I went to bed."

"So we can find her at your apartment, then?"

"Uh… maybe… she's usually out during the day…" he answered evasively.

"Can you tell us where else we might find her then?"* asked McGuire impatiently.

"Well… no, not really." The young man gulped, and his eyes darted back and forth.

Jimmy's eyes narrowed, and he stepped up to the suddenly very nervous man. "Is it that you can't say, or you won't say?" he probed, crossing his arms.

But he wouldn't say a word. _He knows he's already said too much._ Jimmy pulled him into an empty corner of the store. "Look, you can either tell us, or we'll find out anyhow – and the police are much more willing to look the other way in… trivial matters… if you cooperate."

"Yeah, yeah, okay. I get it." He quickly whispered something in Jimmy's ear.

The young detective promptly busted up in a fit of laughter. "Hoo hoo… let him go, Inspector. I've got what I need from him."

"Alright, Mr. Gakushi, you can go. But don't leave town."

"And don't contact your girlfriend until we clear this up," Jimmy added.

"Sure thing." He vanished through the busted-out doorframe.

"So he didn't do it?" McGuire asked.

"I already told you it was a woman. Now, then…" he brushed off his pant legs. "If you wouldn't mind accompanying me, Keiko, Yusuke, we have some another suspect to track down."

"Ugh… Does it involve moving?"

"Yes."

"Damn."

"Yusuke!" Keiko slapped his shoulder. "Will this help clear him?"

"More than likely."

"Then we're going! Come on, you sluggard!" She fairly dragged the battered boy through the door.

"Inspector, you and your men check the scene for more clues here – though I doubt you'll find any."

"You're sure you don't want me along?"

"I'm fairly sure an _official_ police presence would hinder the investigation more than help it. By the way, you haven't yet made an announcement to the press about Mr. Yamaguchi's death, have you?"

"No, but why? Everybody in the neighborhood knows something went down here. It'll be impossible to pretend nothing happened."

"That's fine, as long as they don't know exactly _what_ happened just yet. Don't let them see the corpse up close! Take it out to the ambulance on a stretcher, not to the coroner's van in a body bag. We won't have to lie by saying he's alive – they can come to their own wrong conclusions easily enough."

"But why do you want them to think…?"

"Look, just keep the media completely in the dark until I tell you otherwise, okay? Tell them 'Our investigation is still ongoing', or something."

"Well… all right. Good luck, Jimmy."

Nodding, Jimmy followed the preceding pair. Moments later, he stuck his head back through the door, a quizzical expression on his face. "Coming, Rachel?"

She glared at him sulkily. "You didn't ask me to."

Jimmy was dumbstruck for a moment. _You mean I have to even ask?_ "I'm sorry, Rachel, I just assumed you'd want to come along."

"Sigh." _ I know that's just how you operate, always assuming everything. But even though you're almost always right, it's still infuriating, you… ass!_ "Let's go."

Inspector McGuire watched them leave, and shook his head wistfully. "That Kudo. He can solve the most baffling crime, but he can't see that the girl right under his nose loves him. I sure hope he figures it out before she gives up on him. All right, you two, you heard the man! Get some paramedics in here with a stretcher and all their equipment, on the double!"

"Yes, sir!"

A/N: *Just to clarify, this story is set before cell phones became commonplace.


	5. This is Such a Drag!

Disclaimer: I do not own either Detective Conan / Case Closed or Yu Yu Hakusho – if I did, I would be rich and famous! I am currently neither, but frankly, that suits me just fine. I hope this story will be found worthy of both fictional worlds.

"**This is Such a Drag!"**

Four pairs of sneakers thundered down the otherwise nearly-vacant sidewalk. The morning commute had ended, but shoppers hadn't yet thronged the streets.

"So, Jimmy, we're headed to the place Mr. Gakushi said we'd find his girlfriend?" Keiko asked, panting. She was not quite as accustomed to physical exertion as the other three teens were, so Jimmy was running beside her, letting her set the pace.

"Yep."

_Not exactly the thorough answer I was after… _"So… where exactly _are_ we going?"

"Just keep going for now. We'll turn right in three blocks."

Keiko turned her head around to look at Rachel, who was running just behind her; Yusuke trailed the other girl by a few feet. "Is he _always_ enigmatic like this?"

"Uh-huh. Infuriating, isn't it?"

"Yeah. How do you put up with him?"

"I really don't know. Keiko, look out!"

"Huh? Eek!" She slammed at full speed into a corpulent businessman, and rebounded spinning sideways and down.

"Keiko!" Yusuke frantically dashed past Rachel to catch his childhood friend.

But he got there too late.

Jimmy had already caught her, just before she could split her head open on the concrete sidewalk. "You okay, there?"

"Y- yeah, I'm fine. Thanks."

A few seconds passed, and he still didn't set her upright. The same thought flashed through both Rachel's mind and Yusuke's: _Get your hands off her already, Jimmy!_ Seeing that thought reflected in their suddenly very jealous eyes, he quickly helped her stand straight.

"Hey, watch where you're going, you brats! Shouldn't you all be in school?" The capitalist with whom Keiko had collided peered at them through beady little eyes tucked deep in his pudgy face. "I should call the police on you for your reckless behavior!"

"Please, sir. I just wasn't looking where I was going. I'm very sorry." Keiko quickly bowed.

"Hnh. Now, that's more like it. But don't think I'll let you off that easy, girl!" He stretched out a bulbous hand and seized her shoulder. Pulling her up against his potbelly, he leered. "I've got some ideas concerning how you can make up for your disrespect."

_Eeewww!_ "Yusuke! Help – "

He was already in the man's face. "Hands off, Fatso! Let 'er go!"

"Back off, boy. I've got no beef with you – yet."

"Last chance, _sir_," said Rachel, her voice icy. "Let her go." She glanced at Yusuke. _On three?_

"Oh, so now you brats are threatening me?"

_One…_

"I'm sure the police will be very interested to know that they have _trash_ to pick up off the streets."

_Two…_

"Now, then, little girl…"

_Three!_

In perfect synchronization, Yusuke's fist smashed in the man's face, while Rachel's sweeping kick caught his legs from behind.

Flailing wildly, he went down like a beached whale, releasing his intended victim. And so, for the second time that morning, Keiko found herself falling…

And once again, she ended up in the arms of Jimmy Kudo. He quickly put her back on her feet, not fancying facing the wrath of their already-riled romantic interests again.

Not that they noticed.

"Thanks for the assist," Yusuke told Rachel. "You do karate or something? That wasn't bad."

"You weren't so bad yourself. And yes. I'm the captain of our school's club."

"No way! You wanna teach me some moves sometime?"

"Well, maybe…"

"A-HEM!"

"Eh?" "What?"

Keiko tapped her foot impatiently; Jimmy's face was unreadable. "We have a job to do?" she reminded them. "Besides, I don't think we should be here when the cops really _do_ show up!"

"No, we should be," Jimmy sighed.

"Huh?"

"Well, someone needs to tell them to search this guy for opium."

Rachel hung her head. _Not again!_

XXXXX

By the time the beat cops (who showed up momentarily) turned them loose, it was nearly noon. As Jimmy had predicted, the businessman had been hiding several bags of the illegal drug within the folds of his belly fat.

"How did you know?" Keiko asked him as they ran on.

"Easy. He clutched as his stomach when you ran into him, but from concern, not pain. After I knew what to look for, it was easy to smell the traces of the drug on him – turning right! – especially when Rachel and Yusuke took him down."

"You're really something else, you know that?"

"You think so? Heh heh…" _Looks like I've got another fan…_ His laughter ceased when he sensed an evil aura growing behind him.

_Grr… that fancy so-and-so! I'll give him what for! _ Yusuke did not take too kindly to even subtle flirting between Keiko and another boy.

Rachel stopped him from rushing the detective. "He doesn't have any interest in her," she assured him. "He has absolutely no interest in girls."

"You mean he's…" he wiggled his hand.

"Oh, god, NO! He's just… not the romantic type."

"Gotcha."

"We're here!" Jimmy announced, jogging to a stop.

"Here? You can't be serious."

"Well, yeah. This is where Mr. Gakushi said his girlfriend would be… if she didn't cut school today, at least."

The other three teens stared at the sign over the school gate. "Ewwww…" Rachel and Keiko said in unison as they turned and looked at each other with disgust written on their faces.

"Next time I see that guy I'll slug him," Yusuke muttered under his breath, grinding his fist in his opposite hand. _Dirty cradle-robber!_

Jimmy shrugged, his sharp ears having easily discerned Yusuke's threat. _Well, I did only promise him protection from the police…_

The timing of their arrival at St. Hebereke's School for Girls (a notoriously expensive, very exclusive private high school) couldn't have been better – it was lunch, so the gate was wide open and unguarded.

"Umm… not to be the bearer of bad news, but… you and Yusuke are going to stick out here like sore thumbs," Rachel remarked.

"I know. That's why I need the two of you to go in and get us some girl's clothing to wear."

The girls stood, dumbstruck and horrified.

"Oh, come on. Just borrow it from somewhere – I'd try a locker room, but it really doesn't matter where you get it from. Oh, and grab some for yourselves while you're at it; your outfits don't exactly match the uniform here either."

"It's not that… that… no way!" Rachel declared, waving her hands frantically. "Forget it!"

"Yusuke in a skirt! Ha ha ha!" Keiko collapsed laughing.

Yusuke collared Jimmy. "Look, man, I _definitely_ didn't sign up to go runnin' around dressed like a girl!"

Fate chose that moment to intervene: leaping through the gate came a whirlwind of black rose petals, shedding articles of clothing as it bounded by. When the petals had settled and the leotard-clad girl had vanished in the distance, a complete girl's school uniform and a standard home economics class apron and cap lay at their feet.

"What was that about 'darling instant noodles'?" said Keiko, scratching her head. "I thought she said something like that, at least…"

Rachel shrugged. "I smelled cookies." _Pretty darn good ones, at that. Dang! Now I'm hungry!_

"Beats me," said Jimmy. "But hey, we've got clothes!" He approached Yusuke, olive skirt in hand.

"No! I refuse! NOOO!"

XXXXX

"Okay, we're all done!"

"Pbst… he… he he… take a look, Jimmy!"

He did as Keiko directed. _Ew… well, I suppose they did the best they could, considering his facial injuries._

"Get this straight: I'm only doing this because I have to clear my name." Yusuke spread his legs and folded his arms over the red neckerchief, but the artificial-bust padding beneath discomfited him, so he stuck his hands on his hips instead.

"Hmm… I guess he'll pass for a girl." _Not standing like that, but eh…_

"He'll have to. It's your turn now, Jimmy."

"Eh?"

"Jimmy Kudo, I swear I will kill you for this humiliation," Yusuke threatened, his voice sounding unnaturally low in his schoolgirl outfit, "Unless you share it."

"Sigh. Fine."

The two girls went to work. In short order, Jimmy Kudo's face was transformed into a passable facsimile of that of a high school girl. Donning the cooking cap and tying the apron around his waist, he poked his head through the bushes.

"All clear. Let's go!"

The quartet pushed through the shrubbery and dashed across the courtyard. Fortunately, the halls were not overly crowded, and the few students they passed were too engrossed in their own concerns to take notice of the girls' different uniforms. "Where should we start looking for Miss Kionna?" Rachel wondered aloud.

"Well, we're talking about a sixteen-year-old girl who's dating a twenty-six-year-old man," Jimmy mused in a bad imitation of a girl's voice.

"So she probably smokes," suggested Yusuke in an even worse falsetto. "What? My mom was just like that…"

Releasing Yusuke from the grip of her evil eye, Keiko concluded the brainstorming session: "So she's probably on the roof."

They clambered up several flights of stairs in single file. As they neared the roof, Keiko giggled. "Yusuke, I can see up your skirt!"

"What?" He tugged the rear of the pleated garment down.

"Just kidding. Now you know how it feels, though. Meh!" She stuck out her tongue and passed him as they rounded the corner.

"So Jimmy," Rachel asked, "do you even have any idea what the girl looks like?"

"Not a clue," he replied, turning the door handle.

"Then how are we supposed to find her?"

"Just watch." Her ushered her through first and held the door for the others. He stepped through the portal and let it slam shut behind them.

XXXXX

Jimmy narrowly ducked out of the way of the barrage of clubs one of his leotard-clad opponents flung at him. _What's their problem, anyway?_

Despite their best efforts at disguise, the boys had been immediately identified by the girls eating lunch on the roof as intruders; but instead of being scared (as Jimmy had anticipated) they had launched an attack!

The battle raged across the rooftop. Jimmy spared a moment to check on how his companions fared.

Rachel was evading her two opponent's snaking, snapping pink ribbons, but couldn't get close enough to counterattack either. Yusuke was surrounded by a gaggle of girls, who were slicing his borrowed clothes to shreds with razor-lined hoops, but he'd avoided further injury to his own person. Keiko, meanwhile, was engaged in a furious dodgeball duel – and, to her credit, holding her own.

"Come on, girls!" cried one girl, encouraging the others. "They'll rue the day they tangled with the Rhythmic Gymnastics Team!"

_Gymnastics? Right… _Dodging another volley of projectiles, Jimmy grazed his shoulder against the outer wall of the stairwell. _I don't think we can keep this up much longer!_

As if an answer to prayer, the stairwell door banged open – and the school's headmistress strode out onto the roof. All combat instantaneously ceased at her arrival.

Yusuke stared at the stately matron. _Oh, shit…she does _not _look happy…_

XXXXX

Contrary to Yusuke's initial assessment, the headmistress of St. Hebereke's was not an old battleaxe, but was actually comparatively pleasant – compared to the girls on the roof, at least.

After sending the gymnastics girls off to class with a stern scolding – and a reminder to change into attire proper before going there – she led the worn-out quartet of trespassers to her office.

Jimmy rapidly explained the situation… with a few tweaks.

"This undercover investigation we're undertaking for the police force is of great importance," he concluded. "Actually, any help you could give us would be greatly appreciated."

The headmistress rose from her high-backed chair and walked around to the front of her desk. She paced back and forth in front of them for half a minute. "Hmm… I still don't know. You three look the sort to do your civic duty, but this one…" she stopped and gave Yusuke a meaningful look.

"You wouldn't fault a good man for injuries sustained in the line of duty, would you, ma'am?" Jimmy rejoined. _It's not exactly lying…_

"Mm… no, I suppose not. Still, I should contact your supervisor."

"No! I mean, we're supposed to be incognito… if he finds out our cover has been blown, we'll be in big trouble!" The others quickly nodded consent to this half-truth. "Please don't!"

"I'm sorry, but, rules are rules. Now, then… wait. Have I seen you somewhere before?" She bent down and stared into Jimmy's eyes.

"Kudo?"

"I beg your pardon?" _She's heard of me? I've tried to maintain a low profile, but word still gets out…_

"You are the son of the brilliant mystery author, Booker Kudo, are you not? I've seen a picture of a boy who looks almost exactly like you in the photos inside the dust covers of his novels!" She crossed to her fully occupied bookshelf and started to reach for a book; Jimmy quickly recognized it as one of his father's more recent works.

_Guess the jig is up. _"Yes, ma'am. That's me."

"Well, I shouldn't be surprised to find the son of such an upstanding citizen helping the police. So I'll help you however I can. And as a special favor to you, I won't notify your overseer."

The four teens let out synchronized sighs of relief.

"However," she continued, holding up a finger, "I want a favor from _you_ in return…"

XXXXX

Jimmy shook his head. _Even that fast-talk wasn't enough! It was a lucky break for us that she's a fan of Dad's work. But to keep her from calling my bluff, I had to promise to get her a signed copy of his next novel – before it's released. It's either that, or I'll have to explain this whole mess to Inspector McGuire… and Dad._

He leaned back against the tiled wall, weighing his options. _I'll get a copy of the novel… somehow. Maybe I can have Doctor Agasa ask Dad for a copy? Hmm…_

"I can't believe it! We went through all that hassle, and she really _did_ skip school!" Standing over the solitary sink in the lone men's restroom in the building, Yusuke furiously scrubbed at the final flakes of foundation and mascara still lingering on his face; Jimmy's disguising cosmetics hadn't taken quite as long to remove, since he hadn't needed nearly so much to begin with.

"Well, at least now you've got some clean clothes to wear." Jimmy tipped his head at the folded-up green button-down shirt waiting on the countertop to join the matching pants Yusuke presently wore. Both items were courtesy of the surprisingly sentimental headmistress, who happened to have her son's old junior high uniform stored in her office closet, having run out of room for items like it at home.

Yusuke turned off the faucet and wiped his face with a towel, at last satisfied that he no longer appeared the least bit feminine. _It's a damn good thing the girls at this school never come to our side of town. I'd die of embarrassment._ Yusuke stared at his blotched face in the mirror and grinned. _Now _that's_ the face of a man!_

He threw on the outdated shirt and buttoned it up. _Hmm… the second button is missing. I wonder: did the headmistress even know her son had a junior high sweetheart? I'd better get someone to sew on a new button before Keiko jumps to any conclusions…_

Sudden banging on the door drew both boys' attention. "Are you two done in there?" Keiko called.

Rachel's tougher fists joined the chorus. "Yeah, come on, we still need to find Kionna! How long does it take, anyhow?"

"Coming, coming!"

A/N: Do you know who the "mystery girl" is? Write and send in a review including her name and anime/manga of origin – I'll include the first correct username in my next Author's Note!


	6. The Final Suspect

Disclaimer: I do not own either Detective Conan / Case Closed or Yu Yu Hakusho – if I did, I would be rich and famous! I am currently neither, but frankly, that suits me just fine. I hope this story will be found worthy of both fictional worlds.

"**The Final Suspect"**

"Are you sure this is the place?" Keiko gasped, staring up at the intricate façade of the enormous apartment building. "It looks way too expensive for a guy like that!"

"It is. This is _Kionna's_ official address, as listed in the school's registry," said Jimmy, searching for their quarry's last name amongst the intercom buttons. "Ah, there she is."

"Yeah, but… even the _girlfriend_ of a guy like that?" argued Yusuke.

Jimmy shrugged, tapping his fingers against the brick wall impatiently. "It's not entirely unexpected. To attend a school like St. Hebereke's, her family would have to be fairly wealthy. Ah, good, he's here."

Inspector McGuire stepped out of the patrol car that had just pulled up. "All right, Jimmy, this had better be good."

"This is where Miss Kionna lives, Inspector… officially, at least. Apartment 23 B."

"Well, all right then, let's see if she's home." He stretched out a hand to press the appropriate intercom button, but Jimmy stopped him.

"Wait, Inspector. Let me handle the first door."

"Why, Jimmy?"

"We shouldn't tip our hand too early. Besides, this could help the investigation. Trust me."

"Well, all right."

Jimmy hit the button. Nothing. He waited a bit, then pressed it again.

"Eh? What do you want?" came a distinctively female voice.

"It's Takashi. Let me in, quick!" Jimmy whispered, trying to make his voice sound more like her boyfriend's.

"What? Ta-_kun_? I thought you said you couldn't contact me any more. Did the police clear everything up?"

"Not yet. Just let me in already!" He rubbed his throat. _Damn! Faking voices like this takes a toll after a while. And mom does it so easily, too. I wonder if Dr. Agasa could come up with something to make this less complicated…_

"Okay, okay… keep your pants on… for now." The intercom clicked off, and the door buzzed.

Jimmy held the door open for the blushing girls, then followed them in. _Well, now we know he would call her after all. Just like I figured he would._

The elevator's speakers played some irritating remake of a once-lovely classical piece. The five riders couldn't get out fast enough when it reached their destination.

"Found it!" announced Rachel. "23 B!"

"Good. Inspector, it's your turn."

McGuire knocked twice on the door, holding up his badge to the eyepiece set in its middle.

A muffled voice responded. "Takashi, is that – oh!"

"Police, miss. Open up."

"O… okay…" They heard the deadbolt click, and the door opened.

"Thank you, miss." The Inspector dipped his head and stepped inside. "I believe Mr. Gakushi has already informed you of the basic situation. These youngsters are helping us with the case."

"Please excuse the intrusion." Keiko, Jimmy, and Rachel bowed in unison. Keiko shoved Yusuke's head down when he made no move to copy them.

"If you don't mind, miss, we'll just look around the apartment a bit?" said McGuire.

"Sure. I've got nothing to hide. And neither does Takashi."

XXXXX

**Kionna ?, age "unknown":**

"Yes, Ta-_kun_ told me his uncle had been killed, and that he was a suspect in his death. No, I haven't told anyone else about this. Who would I tell? Are we done now?" The tall, defiant girl tossed her hair angrily. The Inspector's line of questioning was abnormally lengthy, at Jimmy's direction.

_She's worried that her illicit relationship with an adult will come to light,_ thought Jimmy. A cursory inspection of her personal effects had revealed a great deal. _As I suspected,_ thought Jimmy, examining a small clutch of pictures on the mantle. _ She loves her mom, but this picture of her is at least five years old, so she's probably dead. I'd say her rich dad is off running his company and he just left her here by herself. Why am I not surprised?_

"Almost, miss. Just to clarify, you said you live alone in this apartment?" McGuire repeated.

"That's right. Well, I sometimes have friends over to visit, but other than that, no one ever comes here."

"Then you won't mind explaining these?" interrupted Rachel from the doorway to Kionna's bedroom. Keiko stood beside her, holding a pair of high-soled shoes with traces of white powder on the heels.

"Those… what are those? I've never seen those before!"

Jimmy rubbed his chin, studying her face. _Hmm… her face would go pale from the fear of being found out, if she really was the killer. She's just plain mad…_

"Miss, I'm afraid that I'll have to – "

"Inspector, wait a moment. Let's not be rash." Jimmy studied the shoes carefully, then tasted the white powder. _These may well be the same shoes the killer wore; but that doesn't mean she's the killer. _"Miss Kionna, do you have more than one key to this apartment?" he asked quietly.

"No. I keep it with me at all times. That's why I usually go over to Takashi's, since he can't get in here."

"And Mr. Gakushi's apartment… is it secure?"

"I… don't know. I usually don't lock the door when he's out, in case he comes back… drunk…" Her hands flew to her face. "Oh, no… who would do such a thing?"

Jimmy smiled triumphantly. _I know who._

Yusuke suddenly hollered from the couch. "Hey, guys, get a load of this!" He turned up the volume on the TV.

"… against all odds, the proprietor of the store, Mr. Yamaguchi, appears to have survived the gunshot wound he suffered during the robbery. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police has declined to make a statement, but alternate sources suggest that he is expected to make a full recovery within the week. We have learned from the administrator of Jindai Hospital, where Mr. Yamaguchi has been kept in isolation, that he has not yet regained consciousness enough to be able to identify his attempted murderer. More on this shocking story at eleven."

"What's this? He's okay? Ta-_kun_ will be so glad!" Kionna exclaimed.

Jimmy grabbed the remote and switched the TV off. "Lousy bunch of… Inspector, we need to move, now!"

The others followed Jimmy out the door and to the elevator. As soon as the doors shut, trapping them inside with more hideous music, Jimmy sunk to the carpeted floor in a fit of laughter.

Rachel shook him. "Jimmy! Get a grip! What are you laughing for, anyhow?"

"Because they reported exactly what I expected them to. He's not really still alive, but it's important that the killer _thinks_ he is. Still, it's a little sooner than I expected. We're going to be cutting it close."

"So you're baiting the killer, betting he – she – will come back to finish the job," Keiko surmised. _Which will completely clear Yusuke!_

"Precisely. Inspector, you posted guards to watch over Mr. Yamaguchi's room at the hospital, right?"

"Of course! You said to not let anything leak to the media, and guards were the only way to keep those vultures out!"

"Good." The elevator reached the ground floor, and Jimmy dashed ahead. "Come on, we've got to get to the hospital before the murderer does! Or we'll never be able to catch her."

XXXXX

Silence reigned in the spacious darkened hospital room, except for the intermittent beeping of life support equipment and various monitoring devices surrounding the solitary bed. A mask covered the face of Mr. Yamaguchi, the occupant of said bed.

The door opened, admitting a floor nurse wheeling a small cart. "Why, thank you, officers. Oh… would you like some coffee? You look so tired!"

"Sure thing, ma'am."

"Thank you."

The nurse let the guards close the door behind her. Leaving the cart by the door, she padded softly toward the bed, listening carefully for the inevitable thump of unconscious bodies falling to the floor. A hypodermic needle appeared from beneath her sleeve; the nurse squeezed the plunger, and a clear liquid dripped from the tip.

_One thump… two thumps… now!_

"Goodbye… again," she whispered maliciously, slowly stabbing the needle into the shunt in Mr. Yamaguchi's left arm.

The lights blinked on.

"Now we can indict you for murder _and_ attempted murder of the same person, in that order, no less!" Jimmy Kudo declared, his hand on the switch. "Now, that takes talent…"

A/N: Tune in next time for the thrilling conclusion! For for now, here's the answer to last chapter's question (drumroll please…):

**Kodachi Kuno**, of Rumiko Takahashi's "**Ranma ½**"! Congratulations to **inu-yusukekaiba102**, who was first to get the right answer!


	7. Never Say Never

Disclaimer: I do not own either Detective Conan / Case Closed or Yu Yu Hakusho – if I did, I would be rich and famous! I am currently neither, but frankly, that suits me just fine. I hope this story will be found worthy of both fictional worlds.

"**Never Say Never"**

"… Ms. Gakushi."

The fake nurse turned to face the young detective. "Why, whatever do you mean? I'm just here to attend this injured patient!"

"No. You shot Mr. Yamaguchi, once already. And you _thought_ he survived, so you came here to give him a shot of another kind – though equally lethal. Hydrogen cyanide?" he guessed, sniffing for the telltale burnt-almond odor. The vapor rising from the drips on the floor confirmed his suspicions.

"He was… already dead?"

"You shouldn't believe everything you hear on TV. You got him the first time."

"You… you have no proof of that!" Her tortoise-shell glasses gleamed in the light; her face was now easily recognizable as that of the woman Jimmy had used to show the Inspector the effect of high heels on walking.

_That needle's not completely empty! _ Jimmy realized as she crept towards him menacingly. "I hope the two guards out there are only unconscious, or we'll have to add two more murder charges," he stalled, dropping into a slight crouch.

"I'll see your three… and raise you one!" The woman lunged at Jimmy, who narrowly dodged the jab of her poisoned needle by leaping to one side. But his maneuver was not entirely defensive.

His reflexes honed by years on the soccer field, Jimmy trapped her overextended arm within his legs, sending them both crashing to the floor. His calved squeezed together, attempting to cut off the circulation in the limb – it worked. Her hand went limp, and the needle clattered under the bed.

"Now then, that's quite – "

A scalpel, in her other hand, thrust towards his thigh.

"Jimmy!" Rachel's lightning-fast hand snaked out and seized the woman's other arm. The woman began thrashing madly, struggling to escape.

"Oh, for – here!" Yusuke's fist smashed into the woman's temple, and she fell instantly limp. "Sheesh. Normally, I wouldn't hit a woman, but I'll make an exception for once."

Keiko and Inspector McGuire emerged from the bathroom, where the four of them had been hiding.

Mr. Yamaguchi's niece and nephew, Asamashii and Takashi, entered from the hallway; Kionna clung to Takashi's hand. Mr. Taka looked in from the hallway.

The two siblings stared at the perpetrator in disbelief, the others in pure confusion.

"Mom? No way…"

"Why would she do such a thing?"

As their mother sat up groggily, a pair of officers cuffed her. The Inspector laughed heartily and pounded Jimmy's back. "You did it again, Kudo! How did you know it was her?"

"It was elementary, really. Watching the surveillance tapes, it was clear that the shooter was right-handed. But his neice, Asamashii, is left-handed; I could tell that by how her nails were filed much more evenly on her right hand. So it couldn't have been her.

"I then thought it might possibly be Kionna, but she's already taller than Takashi; why would she want to make herself look taller with high shoes? Besides, Takashi called her about his uncle – if she had thought the police were onto her, she would have gotten rid of the shoes entirely, not hidden them in her closet!

"I was certain it was you, Ms. Gakushi, when you were walking with Keiko and Yusuke. You stopped short of the prints on the floor, even though I hadn't told you about them; this could have been coincidence, but not likely. By the way, Rachel, I picked her out of the crowd because she was about the right size – and she seemed entirely _too_ interested in what was going on."

Ms. Gakushi interjected. "If I did what you say I did, why would I stick around at the crime scene?"

"You didn't. You had someone else to frame: Miss Kionna, your son's girlfriend. You left the store and put the shoes in her closet, using the key you stole from her when she was sleeping in your son's apartment; you even wore the cap to cover your hair, making it look like it was _her_ in disguise!" he accused.

"Who? That _slut_?" She jabbed an accusing finger at the girl. "I saw her sneaking around on my son with high-school boys! What was I supposed to do?"

"What? Kionna?" Takashi gaped at his girlfriend.

"It's not… no! My father was having me watched! I had to convince his agents that I was living a normal schoolgirl's life. I never did anything with any of the boys I went out with, I swear! I wouldn't even hold hands!" She burst into tears.

"It's all right, Kionna. You've told me what your father is like, and I know you'd have to do something drastic to get by him." Takashi held her to him. "I trust you."

"Oh, Takashi…"

Asamashii snorted. "Get a room, little brother."

"Ahem. So," Jimmy continued, "basically, Ms. Gakushi, you were killing two birds with one stone: you murdered your brother in cold blood for his substantial life insurance money – you are listed as his only beneficiary, and your husband's pension is running out, so that's plenty of motive – and you framed your son's 'cheating' girlfriend, to boot. My only question now is, why the boy's school uniform?"

She shrugged. "I just saw lots of boys wearing them in the neighborhood around the shop. I figured it would be something easy to make it look like Kionna had disguised herself."

"That's all? _That's_ why I got the crap beat out of me by those dirty cops?"

"Yusuke, shh!"

Her brief moment of restored sanity concluded, Ms. Gakushi resumed ranting irrationally. "She's running around on you, using you, Takashi! Even now, she's plotting to go after the money your uncle left to you!" she screamed.

Having finally had enough of his mother's scathing and increasingly unfounded insults, Takashi defended his girlfriend fiercely. "Kionna has all the money she could ask for from her father – but not love. I can't believe that you'd kill Uncle Yama, but to pin it on her? That's just… spiteful!"

"But – "

"That's enough out of you," snapped the Inspector, snapping his fingers. "Boys, take her downtown! Gag her, if you must."

"Ma'am, she really does love your son," Keiko whispered to the obstinate woman as she shuffled past.

The embittered woman glared at her. "I'll _never_ believe that."

XXXXX

"Jimmy, wasn't that kind of risky?"

"Yeah, I guess. That nut job almost carved me open, didn't she?"

"Not that… what if it hadn't been her? Your reputation could've been ruined?"

"Well, I was about 70% certain it was her just from how she was acting in the store – but I didn't know who exactly she was, and I didn't want to tip her off by asking for her name."

"She probably would have given a fake one, even if you asked," Rachel surmised.

"Probably," Jimmy agreed. "I wasn't about to go searching the streets, so I had to make her come to us. Meanwhile, we found incriminating evidence to go with the suspect," he added, referring to the traces of DNA in the shoes, which matched Ms. Gakushi, but not Kionna. "Now, if she'd used brand new shoes and worn plastic bags inside her socks, maybe it wouldn't have been enough, but…"

Rachel let him babble on for a while, but paid zero attention. _I've had enough of detective work for one day…_

"Rachel… Rachel?"

"Eh?" They were at the street entrance to her father's apartment/office. She stared at Jimmy's face for a moment. _He just looks so excited… and I can't deny that I find that really attractive in him – usually._ She dug her toe into the sidewalk. "Hey, Jimmy?"

"What?"

_I want to… no. Not yet. Not until he says he…_

"It's nothing. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure thing, Rachel. Hey, tomorrow I'll copy someone's science and math notes from today; you get the English, classical Japanese, and history, then we'll swap?"

"No way, I got history last time!" She stuck out her tongue. "_You_ get it."

"Fine, fine. Later!" He waved and jogged down the street.

Rachel stood and watched until he vanished. _There he goes, back to that big empty house… I wonder what it would be like to live there… with him… Eep!_ She shook her head, blushing and ran up the stairs.

Her face became even redder when she unlocked and opened the door.

"DAD, YOU… PIG! GET OFF THE COUCH AND CLEAN UP YOUR MESS!"

XXXXX

"Aw, man… a perfectly good day out of school, gone to waste," Yusuke griped as the sun began to set over the western horizon.

"Well, at least we made some new friends," Keiko commented. "Weird ones, but nice."

"I'll say; that Rachel has a nice right hook… and her legs are really – strong," he finished, taking note of Keiko's death glare just in time.

"I think it was interesting learning about police work, too… I've always wanted to see a real detective in action." She giggled. "That Jimmy Kudo is one smart guy; I think we're going to hear a lot more about him!" _Cute, too…_

"Peh. Whatever."

She stuck her face in front of his. "Hey, are you… _jealous_?"

"As if! Keep dreaming!"

"Mm-hm." She turned up her nose. "Maybe _you'd_ be more interesting if you started investigating crimes – you've already got some experience! Besides, I think it would be a nice change of pace for you to be on the right side of the law for once."

"You can forget that. I'll _never_ be a detective."

A/N: To be honest, Yusuke's final line was what inspired this whole story! Long joke, short punch line, huh? I hope you enjoyed it!

I must say, after re-reading this, the mystery and the solving of it are much more in the style of _The Mentalist_ than _Case Closed_… especially the trap for the criminal. Jimmy/Shinichi/Conan rarely (if ever) needs such gambits – he just uses the facts.

I tried to remain as close to the _Case Closed_ formula as possible, though. Next time I write a mystery, I'll have the whole thing plotted out before I write myself into too many corners!

I do apologize that this particular story was _extremely_ Jimmy-intensive. I wanted Yusuke to play more of a role in solving the mystery, but his brainpower just isn't on par with Jimmy's… oh well. I doubt I'll have these two worlds collide again, at any rate.

On to new works!

By the way, the title for this chapter was decided upon in summer of 2010, LONG before the obsession with a certain teen idol singer… It actually borrows from the title of a James Bond movie.


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